Cuban Missile Crisis - Cold War - HISTORY.com Cuban Missile Crisis A+E Networks Introduction During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In a TV address on October 22, 1962, President John Kennedy (1917-63) notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. Following this news, many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war. However, disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

Google Discovering the Missiles After seizing power in the Caribbean island nation of Cuba in 1959, leftist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro (1926-) aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Under Castro, Cuba grew dependent on the Soviets for military and economic aid. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviets (and their respective allies) were engaged in the Cold War (1945-91), an ongoing series of largely political and economic clashes. Did You Know? The actor Kevin Costner (1955-) starred in a movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis titled "Thirteen Days." Released in 2000, the movie's tagline was "You'll never believe how close we came." The two superpowers plunged into one of their biggest Cold War confrontations after the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane making a high-altitude pass over Cuba on October 14, 1962, photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation. President Kennedy was briefed about the situation on October 16, and he immediately called together a group of advisors and officials known as the executive committee, or ExCom.

For nearly the next two weeks, the president and his team wrestled with a diplomatic crisis of epic proportions, as did their counterparts in the Soviet Union. A New Threat to the U.S. For the American officials, the urgency of the situation stemmed from the fact that the nuclear-armed Cuban missiles were being installed so close to the U.S. mainland–just 90 miles south of Florida . From that launch point, they were capable of quickly reaching targets in the eastern U.S. If allowed to become operational, the missiles would fundamentally alter the complexion of the nuclear rivalry between the U.S. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which up to that point had been dominated by the Americans. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had gambled on sending the missiles to Cuba with the specific goal of increasing his nation’s nuclear strike capability. The Soviets had long felt uneasy about the number of nuclear weapons that were targeted at them from sites in Western Europe and Turkey, and they saw the deployment of missiles in Cuba as a way to level the playing field. Another key factor in the Soviet missile scheme was the hostile relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.

The Kennedy administration had already launched one attack on the island–the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961–and Castro and Khrushchev saw the missiles as a means of deterring further U.S. aggression. Weighing the Options From the outset of the crisis, Kennedy and ExCom determined that the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba was unacceptable. The challenge facing them was to orchestrate their removal without initiating a wider conflict–and possibly a nuclear war. In deliberations that stretched on for nearly a week, they came up with a variety of options, including a bombing attack on the missile sites and a full-scale invasion of Cuba. But Kennedy ultimately decided on a more measured approach. First, he would employ the U.S. Navy to establish a blockade, or quarantine, of the island to prevent the Soviets from delivering additional missiles and military equipment. Second, he would deliver an ultimatum that the existing missiles be removed. In a television broadcast on October 22, 1962, the president notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact the blockade and made it clear that the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security.

Following this public declaration, people around the globe nervously waited for the Soviet response. Some Americans, fearing their country was on the brink of nuclear war, hoarded food and gas. Showdown at Sea A crucial moment in the unfolding crisis arrived on October 24, when Soviet ships bound for Cuba neared the line of U.S. vessels enforcing the blockade. An attempt by the Soviets to breach the blockade would likely have sparked a military confrontation that could have quickly escalated to a nuclear exchange. But the Soviet ships stopped short of the blockade. Although the events at sea offered a positive sign that war could be averted, they did nothing to address the problem of the missiles already in Cuba. The tense standoff between the superpowers continued through the week, and on October 27, an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba, and a U.S. invasion force was readied in Florida. (The 35-year-old pilot of the downed plane, Major Rudolf Anderson, is considered the sole U.S. combat casualty of the Cuban missile crisis.) “I thought it was the last Saturday I would ever see,” recalled U.S.

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (1916-2009), as quoted by Martin Walker in “The Cold War.” A similar sense of doom was felt by other key players on both sides. A Deal Ends the Standoff Despite the enormous tension, Soviet and American leaders found a way out of the impasse. During the crisis, the Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications, and on October 26, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy in which he offered to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The following day, the Soviet leader sent a letter proposing that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey. Officially, the Kennedy administration decided to accept the terms of the first message and ignore the second Khrushchev letter entirely. Privately, however, American officials also agreed to withdraw their nation’s missiles from Turkey. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy (1925-68) personally delivered the message to the Soviet ambassador in Washington , and on October 28, the crisis drew to a close. Both the Americans and Soviets were sobered by the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The following year, a direct “hot line” communication link was installed between Washington and Moscow to help defuse similar situations, and the superpowers signed two treaties related to nuclear weapons. The Cold War was far from over, though. In fact, another legacy of the crisis was that it convinced the Soviets to increase their investment in an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. from Soviet territory. Tags Milestones: 1961–1968 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1961–1968 The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The crisis was unique in a number of ways, featuring calculations and miscalculations as well as direct and secret communications and miscommunications between the two sides. The dramatic crisis was also characterized by the fact that it was primarily played out at the White House and the Kremlin level with relatively little input from the respective bureaucracies typically involved in the foreign policy process.

Aerial view of missile launch site at San Cristobal, Cuba. (John F. Kennedy Library) After the failed U.S. attempt to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion, and while the Kennedy administration planned Operation Mongoose, in July 1962 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. Construction of several missile sites began in the late summer, but U.S. intelligence discovered evidence of a general Soviet arms build-up on Cuba, including Soviet IL–28 bombers, during routine surveillance flights, and on September 4, 1962, President Kennedy issued a public warning against the introduction of offensive weapons into Cuba. Despite the warning, on October 14 a U.S. U–2 aircraft took several pictures clearly showing sites for medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) under construction in Cuba. These images were processed and presented to the White House the next day, thus precipitating the onset of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Kennedy summoned his closest advisers to consider options and direct a course of action for the United States that would resolve the crisis. Some advisers—including all the Joint Chiefs of Staff—argued for an air strike to destroy the missiles, followed by a U.S. invasion of Cuba; others favored stern warnings to Cuba and the Soviet Union. The President decided upon a middle course. On October 22, he ordered a naval “quarantine” of Cuba. The use of “quarantine” legally distinguished this action from a blockade, which assumed a state of war existed; the use of “quarantine” instead of “blockade” also enabled the United States to receive the support of the Organization of American States. That same day, Kennedy sent a letter to Khrushchev declaring that the United States would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba, and demanded that the Soviets dismantle the missile bases already under construction or completed, and return all offensive weapons to the U.S.S.R. The letter was the first in a series of direct and indirect communications between the White House and the Kremlin throughout the remainder of the crisis.

The President also went on national television that evening to inform the public of the developments in Cuba, his decision to initiate and enforce a “quarantine,” and the potential global consequences if the crisis continued to escalate. The tone of the President’s remarks was stern, and the message unmistakable and evocative of the Monroe Doctrine: “It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced a military readiness status of DEFCON 3 as U.S. naval forces began implementation of the quarantine and plans accelerated for a military strike on Cuba. On October 24, Khrushchev responded to Kennedy’s message with a statement that the U.S. “blockade” was an “act of aggression” and that Soviet ships bound for Cuba would be ordered to proceed. Nevertheless, during October 24 and 25, some ships turned back from the quarantine line; others were stopped by U.S. naval forces, but they contained no offensive weapons and so were allowed to proceed. Meanwhile, U.S.

reconnaissance flights over Cuba indicated the Soviet missile sites were nearing operational readiness. With no apparent end to the crisis in sight, U.S. forces were placed at DEFCON 2—meaning war involving the Strategic Air Command was imminent. On October 26, Kennedy told his advisors it appeared that only a U.S. attack on Cuba would remove the missiles, but he insisted on giving the diplomatic channel a little more time. The crisis had reached a virtual stalemate. That afternoon, however, the crisis took a dramatic turn. ABC News correspondent John Scali reported to the White House that he had been approached by a Soviet agent suggesting that an agreement could be reached in which the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba if the United States promised not to invade the island. While White House staff scrambled to assess the validity of this “back channel” offer, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a message the evening of October 26, which meant it was sent in the middle of the night Moscow time. It was a long, emotional message that raised the specter of nuclear holocaust, and presented a proposed resolution that remarkably resembled what Scali reported earlier that day.

“If there is no intention,” he said, “to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to untie that knot. We are ready for this.” Although U.S. experts were convinced the message from Khrushchev was authentic, hope for a resolution was short-lived. The next day, October 27, Khrushchev sent another message indicating that any proposed deal must include the removal of U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey. That same day a U.S. U–2 reconnaissance jet was shot down over Cuba. Kennedy and his advisors prepared for an attack on Cuba within days as they searched for any remaining diplomatic resolution. It was determined that Kennedy would ignore the second Khrushchev message and respond to the first one. That night, Kennedy set forth in his message to the Soviet leader proposed steps for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba under supervision of the United Nations, and a guarantee that the United States would not attack Cuba. It was a risky move to ignore the second Khrushchev message.

Attorney General Robert Kennedy then met secretly with Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, and indicated that the United States was planning to remove the Jupiter missiles from Turkey anyway, and that it would do so soon, but this could not be part of any public resolution of the missile crisis. The next morning, October 28, Khrushchev issued a public statement that Soviet missiles would be dismantled and removed from Cuba. The crisis was over but the naval quarantine continued until the Soviets agreed to remove their IL–28 bombers from Cuba and, on November 20, 1962, the United States ended its quarantine. U.S. Jupiter missiles were removed from Turkey in April 1963. The Cuban missile crisis stands as a singular event during the Cold War and strengthened Kennedy’s image domestically and internationally. It also may have helped mitigate negative world opinion regarding the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Two other important results of the crisis came in unique forms.

First, despite the flurry of direct and indirect communications between the White House and the Kremlin—perhaps because of it—Kennedy and Khrushchev, and their advisers, struggled throughout the crisis to clearly understand each others’ true intentions, while the world hung on the brink of possible nuclear war. In an effort to prevent this from happening again, a direct telephone link between the White House and the Kremlin was established; it became known as the “Hotline.” Second, having approached the brink of nuclear conflict, both superpowers began to reconsider the nuclear arms race and took the first steps in agreeing to a nuclear Test Ban Treaty. About the Crisis | Cuban Missile Crisis Home Page // About the crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal moment in the Cold War. Fifty years ago the United States and the Soviet Union stood closer to Armageddon than at any other moment in history. In October 1962 President John F. Kennedy was informed of a U-2 spy-plane’s discovery of Soviet nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba. The President resolved immediately that this could not stand.

Over an intense 13 days, he and his Soviet counterpart Nikita Khrushchev confronted each other “eyeball to eyeball,” each with the power of mutual destruction. A war would have meant the deaths of 100 million Americans and more than 100 million Russians. Meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council. October, 29 1962. Pausing at the nuclear precipice, President Kennedy and the group of advisors he had assembled (known as ExComm) evaluated a number of options. After a week of secret deliberations, he announced the discovery to the world and imposed a naval blockade on further shipments of armaments to Cuba. A tense second week followed, during which neither side backed down. Presented with the choice of attacking or accepting Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, Kennedy rejected both options. Instead, he crafted an alternative with three components: a public deal in which the United States pledged not to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union withdrew its missiles; a private ultimatum threatening to attack Cuba within 24 hours if the offer was rejected; and a secret sweetener that promised to withdraw U.S. missiles from Turkey within six months.

The crisis was resolved at the last minute when Khrushchev accepted the U.S. offer. October 17, 1962: U-2 photograph of first IRBM site found under construction In this section you will find a chronology of the early Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the Crisis, and links to key documents , photographs , and audio and video resources from the most dramatic period of the Cold War. Search for: Cuban Missile Crisis - 1962 Year In Review - Audio - UPI.com 1962 Year In Review Published: 1962 Play Audio Archive Story - UPI President John F. Kennedy is seen in this October 23, 1962 file photo after signing a proclamation formally putting into effect the U.S. arms quarantine against Cuba. (UPI/File) Unknown Speaker: At the height of tension over the Cuban Crisis, with the world purged on the edge of Armageddon, Secretary of State Dean Rusk said, "The United States and the Soviet Union are standing eyeball to eyeball; and," added Mr. Rusk, "I think the other guy just blinked".

Throughout that crisis, Pye Chamberlayne, Jr. was at the White House. He knows the story of the tense Cuban days well. Pye Chamberlayne: "On the night of October 22nd, President Kennedy made what well may be his most famous speech. He revealed that offensive Soviet missiles and bombers were in Cuba, and more were on the way. He said..." President John F. Kennedy: "To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons be turned back." Pye Chamberlayne: "Reaction was swift. It extended around the world. From London, Don MacKay reported … " Don MacKay: "The revelation of the Soviet buildup in Cuba will come as a shock to the whole civilized world.

These were the words of an official spokesman at the British Foreign Office shortly after President Kennedy completed his momentous address to the nation and to the world." Pye Chamberlayne: "From Moscow, Jay Axelbank … " Jay Axelbank: "The Soviet Press this morning was filled with vituperative attack on the Americans-Cuban blockade. The military newspaper Red Star warned that Soviet military units are in a state of combat readiness." Pye Chamberlayne: "From Cuba, Pedro Bonetti … " Pedro Bonetti: "The Cuban Government at 8:15 has not issue any official reaction to the speech of President Kennedy this evening, in which he announced new measures to establish a stronger blockade to Cuba. The speech of President Kennedy was not transmit to the Cuban people, but hundreds of Cubans heard it by shortwave radio." Pye Chamberlayne: "In the forum of the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and Soviet Ambassador Zorin clashed with angry words..." Adlai Stevenson: "Mr. Zorin, let me ask you one simple question. Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the U.S.S.R.

has placed and is placing medium- and intermediate-range missiles and sites in Cuba? Yes or no? Don't wait for the translation, yes or no?" Zorin: "(Foreign language.)" Interpreter: "'I'm not … I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and therefore I do not wish to answer a question that is put to me in the fashion in which a prosecutor does. In due course, sir, you will have your reply.'" Adlai Stevenson: "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over, if that's your decision." Pye Chamberlayne: "U.S. ships steamed at full speed across the Caribbean. U.S. troops at the battle-ready were marshaled and hastily set up embarkation points in Florida, and that was when the Soviet giant blinked. Actually, the blink was a single Soviet ship which volunteered information to U.S. inspectors on its cargo." Unknown Speaker: "The Soviet tanker, which was intercepted shortly after 8 o'clock Thursday morning by a U.S. Naval vessel, was the Bucharest, en route from Russia to Cuba with petroleum.

This is the first and only intercept to date in the Cuban quarantine." Pye Chamberlayne: "Tension eased. On November 20th, President Kennedy again spoke to the world … " President John F. Kennedy: "I have today been informed by Chairman Khrushchev that all of the IL-28 bombers now in Cuba will be withdrawn in 30 days. He also agreed that these planes can be observed and counted as they leave. Inasmuch as this goes a long way towards reducing the danger which faced this hemisphere four weeks ago, I have this afternoon instructed the Secretary of Defense to lift our Naval quarantine." Pye Chamberlayne: "It was announced that Russia had given in and pulled out her missiles. Armageddon had been turned aside, at least for 1962." William Leiss: There were other major stories in the world, and I'll have more on those after this important message. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: A Political Perspective After 40 Years The Declassified History. At midday, and again in the early evening of October 16, 1962, John F.

Kennedy called together a group of his closest advisers at the White House. Late the night before, the CIA had produced detailed photo intelligence identifying Soviet nuclear missile installations under construction on the island of Cuba, some ninety miles off the Florida coast; now the president and his men confronted the dangerous decision of how the United States should respond . . . [More] The Most Dangerous Moment. If the Cuban Missile Crisis was the most dangerous passage of the Cold War, the most dangerous moment of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the evening of Saturday, 27 October 1962, when the resolution of the crisisï¿½war or peaceï¿½ appeared to hang in the balance . . . [More] Annals of Blinksmanship. Now that the Cold War is over, its history has become a growth industry, though in truth there was no great shortage of historical analysis even while the war was going on. Today, however, one finds a certain generational divide as perhaps the salient characteristic of the enterprise . . .

[More] At ground zero of the Cuban missile crisis, 50 years later - CNN.com At ground zero of the Cuban missile crisis, 50 years later By Patrick Oppmann, CNN Updated 12:30 PM ET, Mon October 15, 2012 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. JUST WATCHED Farmer recalls Cuban Missile crisis 02:41 Story highlights A small family farm in Cuba hosted Soviet missiles in 1962 A Cuban teen found out about emplacement when relocated pigs returned to old farm Remnants of Soviet bunkers still can be seen on the farm Fifty years ago, 15-year-old Omar Lopez knew a secret that governments around the world would have killed to learn or safeguard: Soviet troops were building hidden military installations in Cuba. One of those installations was on the farm where his family raised chickens and pigs. In 1962, Fidel Castro's revolution was just beginning to reshape Cuba. Thousands of Cubans had fled the country, and the year before, Castro's troops had routed a U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. Read more: Should the U.S.

fight or befriend Cuba? But little of the drama of those times reached the remote Lopez farm in western Cuba, where palm trees vastly outnumber human residents. "Our life was getting up every day to take the livestock out to pasture," Lopez remembers a half-century later. "We watched them, worked, did our chores and went to sleep to do it again the next day." Photos: Photos: Remembering the Cuban missile crisis Photos: Photos: Remembering the Cuban missile crisis Remembering the Cuban missile crisis – People gather in an electronics store to watch American President John F. Kennedy deliver a nationally televised address on the Cuban missile crisis on October 22, 1962. Hide Caption MUST WATCH Russian tourists return to Cuba 02:03 That routine was interrupted when Lopez and his father, Manuel, returned to their farmhouse one day to find a uniformed Cuban comandante waiting for them on the porch. Read more: Raul Castro again says Cuba willing to talk with U.S. "He said they needed the farm," Lopez recalled.

"It wasn't right, but this was a time of war and they needed for us to move and would give us a bigger farm and build us a new house." Seventy-two hours later, Lopez said, a house had been built for them, no small feat in a country beset by shortages. Lopez, his brother and parents left their farm with all their animals and earthly possessions. "As we drove out," he said, "the troops started coming in." Read more: Should the U.S. raise a fist or offer a hand to Cuba? "The troops" were thousands of Soviet soldiers and technicians who had been secreted into Cuba as part of a confidential agreement between Castro and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to place nuclear missiles on the island and upend the dynamic of the Cold War. On his family's new farm two miles away, Lopez might not have ever known that a large military operation was under way where they once lived -- if not for the pigs. The Lopez family's pigs kept wandering back to the old farm. Omar was dispatched to bring them home. Sneaking past the Cuban guards, Lopez said, he encountered tall, blond visitors who had commandeered his wayward porkers. "They ate our pigs," Lopez said.

"When you said, 'Hey, that's mine,' they said, 'No comprende.' " Read more: Pope calls for greater freedoms in Cuba as he ends two-country tour As Lopez left with the livestock he could rescue, the Russians asked the teenage Cuban farm boy to come back with rum for them. Despite the furious pace of activity on his old farm, Lopez didn't pay too much mind to the foreigners. Then the shiny planes -- flying fast and low -- appeared over the green hills. Read more: Dissident Cuban blogger arrested, colleagues say "I saw the planes twice. They flew over that mountain range, came down and then flew out," Lopez said. "That's when you saw a lot of movement among the Cuban troops." The planes Lopez saw were U.S. spy planes, and as they flew over San Cristobal on October 15, 1962, they were capturing the first photos of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Those photos arrived on President John F. Kennedy's desk the next morning. More spy flights revealed Soviet installations across the island and nuclear missiles that could reach the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Kennedy ordered Navy ships to quarantine Cuba to prevent more Soviet missiles' and troops' passage to the island.

For millions of people across the globe, a nuclear war and nuclear holocaust seemed imminent. Read more: Dissident Cuban blogger arrested, colleagues say The standoff that would play out over the next 13 days would be called the Cuban missile crisis in the United States, the Caribbean crisis in the USSR and the October crisis in Cuba. But even though he lived next to a missile site, Oscar Lopez wasn't aware at the time that a crisis by any name was taking place. "Back then, we didn't have TV," Lopez said of simple life in Cuba's countryside. "We didn't get the news, no one delivered the paper. You lived to work. Back then, you were considered rich if you had a radio. We had no idea what was going on." Lopez said they never heard of the crisis while it unfolded or that a deal was reached between the Americans and Soviets to remove the missiles if the Americans promised not to invade Cuba. He does remember the loud noise of trucks hauling the Soviet equipment from their farm. After the mysterious visitors left, Lopez said he and his father returned to their old land. Trenches crisscrossed the fields. Concrete bunkers now stood where livestock had grazed.

The new land they had been given was four times the size of the old -- and now damaged -- farm. Still, Lopez's father went to see the comandante to ask for his farm back. Opinion: The hypocrisy of America's Cuba policy "The comandante said, 'If I gave you a bigger farm, why do you want to go to a smaller one?' " Lopez related. "My dad responded, 'You gave me a bigger farm, but that's not my farm," Lopez said. "My farm is the little one, and that's where I want go back to." Lopez's family still works the land where Soviet troops once erected nuclear missile sites. When Lopez, 65, is not tending to the animals, he takes the occasional visitor out to see the traces of the Soviet occupation of his farm. The road the Russians used to transport the missiles washed away a long time ago and the quickest way to reach the missile sites is by mule and buggy. On the day he took CNN out to see the ruins of the missile sites, Lopez sported a Boston Red Sox baseball cap and apologized that he had to borrow his neighbor's smaller cart since his had a flat tire.

Driving out, Lopez pointed out a fence he made from a metal bridge the Soviets left behind. He also showed how neighbors used curved concrete beams from a missile bunker to build a pig pen. A jarring 30-minute ride later, Lopez and visitors reached one of the missile launch sites. Read more: Jailed American in Cuba may be ill, lawyer says In the nearby jungle, vines wrapped around fallen buildings that seemed to belong to a much older and forgotten civilization. A small, faded marble plaque marked the spot where Soviets once pointed nuclear missiles at the United States. Lopez said the marble plaque was a replacement for a bronze one that disappeared years ago. The loudest sound at the remote site was the wind rustling though the adjacent sugar cane fields. "We were lucky there wasn't war," Lopez said. "After the atomic bombs and the sicknesses that would have come, there wouldn't have been a single Cuban left and there wouldn't have been many of you left either because you are very close." Cuban Missile Crisis - John F.

Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis For thirteen days in October 1962 the world waited—seemingly on the brink of nuclear war—and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the problem. After many long and difficult meetings, Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba. The aim of this "quarantine," as he called it, was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation about the crisis in a televised address. No one was sure h ow Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev would respond to the naval blockade and US demands.

But the leaders of both superpowers recognized the devastating possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade Cuba. In a separate deal, which remained secret for more than twenty-five years, the United States also agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. Although the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, they escalated the building of their military arsenal; the missile crisis was over, the arms race was not. In 1963, there were signs of a lessening of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. In his commencement address at American University, President Kennedy urged Americans to reexamine Cold War stereotypes and myths and called for a strategy of peace that would make the world safe for diversity. Two actions also signaled a warming in relations between the superpowers: the establishment of a teletype "Hotline" between the Kremlin and the White House and the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on July 25, 1963.

In language very different from his inaugural address, President Kennedy told Americans in June 1963, "For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." Prologue: Selected Articles | National Archives Prologue: Selected Articles Forty Years Ago The Cuban Missile Crisis In a televised address on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy informed the American people of the presence of missile sites in Cuba. (NARA, John F. Kennedy Library) The week of October 7, 1962, saw bad weather in the Caribbean, preventing American U-2 surveillance planes from making more reconnaissance flights over Fidel Castro's Cuba, just ninety miles off the Florida coast. But Sunday morning, October 14, was cloudless, and the U-2 flight got some good photos— pictures that, over the next few days, were analyzed and reanalyzed. They provided positive proof of what the United States had for months suspected: that the Soviet Union was installing medium-range nuclear weapons in Castro's Cuba, capable of striking major U.S.

cities and killing tens of millions of Americans within minutes. Faced with this dramatic documentation, President John F. Kennedy immediately decided that the missiles would have to be removed and called his most trusted advisers together to serve as an Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or ExComm. Its job was to develop possible responses to the buildup of missiles and the consequences the buildup represented. Forty years later, what is now known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis," which lasted for several weeks, is remembered as the hottest moment in the Cold War between East and West and a defining moment in Kennedy's presidency. US forces around the world were placed on alert. Four tactical air squadrons were readied for air strikes over Cuba, with missile sites, airfields, ports, and gun emplacements as their potential targets. More than 100,000 troops were sent to Florida for a possible invasion of Cuba. The navy dispatched 180 vessels into the Caribbean for a planned amphibious exercise involving 40,000 marines. B-52s loaded with nuclear weapons were in the air at all times.

* * * With the October 14 photographs, the United States had caught the Soviet Union building offensive nuclear missile bases in its backyard, and the two superpowers were now joined in the first direct nuclear confrontation in history. Throughout 1962, the movement of Soviet personnel and equipment to Cuba had aroused suspicions in the American intelligence community. In response, US ships and planes began photographing every Cuba-bound Soviet vessel, and U-2 spy planes began regular reconnaissance flights over the island. The first evidence of the arrival in Cuba of surface-to-air missiles, missile-equipped torpedo boats for coastal defense, and large numbers of Soviet military personnel came in photographs taken in late August. But these pictures provided no evidence of offensive ballistic missiles. In September, Kennedy delivered two explicit warnings to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev regarding the buildup of what were being called "defensive" Soviet arms in Cuba. On September 13, Kennedy wrote: "If at any time the Communist build-up in Cuba were to endanger or interfere with our security in any way . . . or if Cuba should ever . . .

become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies." Despite Kennedy's warnings, the Soviets continued to construct the bases, and the United States continued to monitor their activities and take pictures. The October 14 photographs, however, changed the nature of the game and set in motion a series of extraordinary events. The ExComm was to consider how to respond to the Soviet actions. Members discussed a number of possible responses: do nothing; take the issue to the United Nations and the Organization of American States; offer to remove US missiles in Turkey if the Soviets removed the missiles in Cuba; send secret envoys to negotiate with Castro; blockade Cuba; strike Cuba by air; or invade Cuba. An "ExComm" meeting on October 29, 1962. (NARA, John F. Kennedy Library) As the ExComm discussions proceeded, the idea of a naval blockade emerged as the response of choice.

Meanwhile, Kennedy met on October 18 for several hours with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, who stressed that the Soviet Union's weapons in Cuba were "by no means offensive." Kennedy read Gromyko his previous statement that warned against offensive missiles in Cuba. Later that day, preparations for the naval blockade began, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to push for an air strike and invasion. The President, wanting to appear to be conducting normal business, flew to the Midwest for campaign appearances in connection with the upcoming congressional elections. He returned Saturday, October 20, to read the draft of a speech announcing the blockade. Although the blockade, which Kennedy preferred to call a "quarantine," represented only "limited action" against Cuba and the Soviets, Kennedy felt that "limited action" was the best way to start; he could always opt for broader action, such as an invasion or air strikes, if the blockade did not work. * * * While the ExComm met officially as the National Security Council, Kennedy decided that in his speech, the United States should not be on the diplomatic defensive but should instead indict the Soviets for duplicity and for threatening world peace.

He wanted to speak on Sunday evening but was persuaded to delay the address until Monday, so the State Department could brief leaders of allied countries and congressional leaders could be informed. On Monday evening, October 22, Kennedy addressed the nation. He was clear and direct: To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. . . . It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union. . . . I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. . . . He has an opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction. . . . My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred.

Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead— months in which both our will and our patience will be tested— months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our danger. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing. * * * Tensions mounted over the next few days as the world wondered if there could be a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Kennedy's speech drew wide support in Latin America and among US allies. But the Pentagon continued plans for air strikes and a land invasion. Several Soviet vessels turned back from the quarantine line, and the United States presented in the United Nations photographic proof of the missiles during a televised confrontation with the Soviet Union. But construction of the missile launch sites in Cuba continued.

On October 26, Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev suggesting that "if assurances were given that the President of the United States would not participate in an attack on Cuba and the blockade lifted, then the question of the removal or destruction of the missile sites in Cuba would then be an entirely different question." The same day, a Washington journalist received a clarification of Khrushchev's proposal from an important official at the Soviet embassy in Washington: The Soviets would remove the missiles under United Nations supervision and inspection, and the United States would lift the blockade and pledge not to invade Cuba. Kennedy got another letter from Khrushchev, demanding removal of US missiles in Turkey, the Soviet Union's neighbor, in exchange for removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba. The implicit message was if the United States invaded Cuba, the Soviets would invade Turkey, and the conflict could escalate. Kennedy decided to ignore this letter and respond to the first one. On Sunday, October 28, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. Negotiations for final settlement of the crisis continued for several days, but the immediate threat of nuclear war had been averted.

On November 20, Kennedy announced, "I have today been informed by Chairman Khrushchev that all of the IL-28 bombers in Cuba will be withdrawn in thirty days. . . . I have this afternoon instructed the Secretary of Defense to lift our naval quarantine." Subsequently, the United States dismantled several of its obsolete air and missile bases in Turkey. The Cuban missile crisis was perhaps the greatest test of John F. Kennedy's presidency, and while he and Khrushchev were able to achieve a peaceful resolution, the crisis had a number of far-reaching historical consequences. Within a year, Kennedy and Khrushchev signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first disarmament agreement of the nuclear age. Also in 1963, the first "hotline" between Washington and Moscow was installed. This article was adapted from The Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy's Address to the Nation, published by NARA in 1988 as part of its "Milestone Documents in the National Archives" series. Articles published in Prologue do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States Government.

This page was last reviewed on August 15, 2016. The Cuban Missile Crisis begins - Oct 14, 1962 - HISTORY.com The Cuban Missile Crisis begins Share this: The Cuban Missile Crisis begins Author The Cuban Missile Crisis begins URL Publisher A+E Networks The Cuban Missile Crisis begins on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles in Cuba—capable of carrying nuclear warheads—were now stationed 90 miles off the American coastline. Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba had been steadily increasing since the failed April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, in which Cuban refugees, armed and trained by the United States, landed in Cuba and attempted to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Though the invasion did not succeed, Castro was convinced that the United States would try again, and set out to get more military assistance from the Soviet Union. During the next year, the number of Soviet advisors in Cuba rose to more than 20,000.

Rumors began that Russia was also moving missiles and strategic bombers onto the island. Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev may have decided to so dramatically up the stakes in the Cold War for several reasons. He may have believed that the United States was indeed going to invade Cuba and provided the weapons as a deterrent. Facing criticism at home from more hard-line members of the Soviet communist hierarchy, he may have thought a tough stand might win him support. Khrushchev also had always resented that U.S. nuclear missiles were stationed near the Soviet Union (in Turkey, for example), and putting missiles in Cuba might have been his way of redressing the imbalance. Two days after the pictures were taken, after being developed and analyzed by intelligence officers, they were presented to President Kennedy. During the next two weeks, the United States and the Soviet Union would come as close to nuclear war as they ever had, and a fearful world awaited the outcome. Related Videos

Question: In what year was the Cuban missile crisis?
Answer: 1962